Becoming American: Baseball's Place in the Assimilation of Immigrants

Date:

Sat, 04/15/2017 - 2:00pm

Location:

Pemberton

Room:

Meeting Room

Horizon Speakers Bureau New Jersey Council of the Humanities During the early twentieth century a series of immigrant groups largely from Europe found their place in America through baseball. On the streets of the lower east side first generation Americans played stickball while their parents spoke their native languages in the adjoining tenement buildings. In the ballparks, fans cheered for their countrymen – Italians, Jews, Irish, Polish players – who excelled on the field. And the tradition continues into the twenty-first century as American baseball becomes increasingly international through the recruitment of Latin American and Asian ballplayers. This multimedia presentation explores the intriguing role that baseball has played in assimilating the waves of immigrants to the U.S.